Pokie addict grills Packer
Casino owner says Wilkie claims are lies
BILLIONAIRE James Packer said allegations Crown casino rigged poker machines and turned a blind eye to drug use were a “lie” as he defended the business under questioning from a former pokie addict yesterday.
Mr Packer, Crown’s biggest shareholder, told the annual general meeting the company was open to improving transparency on problem gambling and poker machine profits.
He faced questions from retired businesswoman Anna Bardsley, who said she had spent 10 years recovering from a poker machine addiction.
“If I see or hear a poker machine accidentally, because I don’t go any more, they still have the power to trigger my brain,” Ms Bardsley said.
“How much do you know about the real people that are harmed by poker machines, which are addictive?”
Mr Packer said: “I’m very sympathetic for the difficulties that the last 10 years has put you through.”
However, the gaming mogul said Crown was in the business of running casinos.
“It’s impossible to run casinos without tables and slots,” he said. “We have a real responsibility to make sure people aren’t harming themselves because, in truth, if that happens it becomes bad for our business because of the political backlash, let alone the human cost.”
Mr Packer said some gambling industry players were less ethical than Crown, leaving him frustrated by allegations in parliament by independent MP Andrew Wilkie.
“Maybe because we’re a bigger company, maybe because we’re more well-known, or maybe because I’m more wellknown, Andrew Wilkie throws something into parliament which is a lie,” he said.
Mr Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to make allegations including that Crown tampered with gaming machines to increase profits and allowed the use of illicit drugs at its Melbourne casino.
Mr Packer said Crown may be open to providing data on poker machine revenue and problem gamblers “because we are living in a world of more and more transparency”.
He also said the detention of Crown employees in China from October 2016 was central to its strategic shift from a global focus to concentrating on Australia.
Crown sold its interests in joint-venture casinos in Macau following the detentions.
Mr Packer said he was increasingly confident about Crown’s $2.4 billion luxury hotel, casino and apartment project at Barangaroo in Sydney. Questions have been raised about its viability, given the drop-off in visits by VIP gamblers from China following the arrests.
“As every day passes, I become more confident,” Mr Packer said.